Learning Objectives

• Define the term acute abdomen
• Describe the clinical features and initial management of 9 critical causes of abdominal pain
• Describe the pathophysiology of visceral, parietal and referred abdominal pain
• Describe different patterns of referred abdominal pain, including renal colic, testicular torsion, pancreatitis, biliary pathology, myocardial infarction and lower lobe pneumonia
• AXR and CXR interpretation - describe signs of small bowel obstruction, large bowel obstruction and bowel perforation

Abdominal Pain

• what is an acute abdomen?
• Abdominal Pain → Condition
• what pain pathways innervate the peritoneum?
• what is the mechanism of referred pain?
• what are the symptoms of referred pain?
• Condition → Referred Pain
• what are the 3 sites of bowel obstruction?

Investigations

• what imagining modalities are used for abdominal pain?
• on an x-ray, how do you differentiate between the small and large bowels?
• what is an x-ray sign of small bowel obstruction?
• AXR & CXR Interpretation